Support for foster carers and their families

If you choose to foster with us, we can offer you a wide range of professional support.

We know how demanding caring for a child can be.

This is why we ensure that all of our foster carers are assigned a qualified and experienced fostering social worker. Your social worker will help you to build on your experience and enhance your skills.

You will also have regular contact and support from the child’s social worker who will be familiar with the child's background and needs.

If you are concerned about a child in your placement you can get help and advice from one of the Buckinghamshire Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) teams.

We have access to dedicated CAMHS support specifically for our foster carers .They can offer advice about how to respond to the child’s behaviours or arrange an appointment to help you understand the child’s difficulties.

As well as supporting the child in your care, the CAMHS team also offer support and specialist training to you as the carer if you are experiencing challenges.

Our foster carers have access to PAM Assist, an independent, professional service which offers counselling, information and support for all types of issues and problems.

The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a self-referral basis.

Whether it’s a shoulder to cry on or a sounding board to talk to, PAM Assist is available for our foster carers over the phone or on a web portal.

We understand that being a foster carer is an around the clock job.

We provide 24 hour support, through our out of hours service. You will have instant access to professionals who will be able to work with you to try and resolve the problem. To reach this service, please call 01296 674 973.

You can contact our fostering team to:

• ask any questions about eligibility, the process or the support that we offer
• ask a question about your specific circumstances
• ask for a face to face chat with our recruitment team